Friday Night: Felt Door Sign

It's Friday night! Woohoo! I remember when I was kid, I used to get so excited for Friday night television. Remember, TGIF? I'm pretty sure that Full House and Family Matters were on then...those were the days!

So, what are you doing for your Friday night? If you're like me, you are online after a busy week. I've been neglecting both my blog and my Facebook page this week; busy, busy. We have an exciting evening planned: brownie sundaes! Yup, you know you are married and have a child when you get excited about brownie sundaes on a Friday night. Maybe we'll even stay up late enough to watch a movie. =) But, seriously, the brownies do smell really good baking in the oven.

Am I just writing to inspire you to sit on your couch and eat brownies? Yes and no! I thought I would share a little project I made last weekend for my nephew's 5th birthday.

Mario Felt Door Sign

My nephew loves Mario (from Mario Brothers) and his whole birthday was themed around Mario. I'm pretty crafty (and can't afford to buy super expensive video game themed toys!) so I thought I would make him a cute sign for his room. Doesn't everyone want a felt Mario sign for their room?!

How did I do it?
First, I perused Pinterest
for some Mario craft ideas. Once I found a few pictures that I liked, I traced the various "pieces" of Mario and the mushroom onto Wonder Under (a fantastic creation that lets you fuse things together with an iron). Then, I cut out each piece and ironed it onto the appropriate color of felt. Once you cut that out, you just peel off the paper from the Wonder Under and iron the piece to your background. For the actual sign, I used two large pieces of red felt, sewing them together on three sides, turning inside out to make a "pouch". To make the sign stable, I used foam board on the inside, then sewed up the right side. Ta da! (Maybe next time, I will think ahead and take step by step pictures for you!) Zack loved it and hopefully, it is now hanging from his bedroom door!

You can do anything with felt! I made a ton of Christmas gifts from felt this year.
Here are a few:





I found the tool box idea here (look for Felt Crafts) - Serving Pink Lemonade is one of my favorite blogs. It has some fantastic craft ideas, mainly for kids. For the aquarium, I searched Pinterest, found the aquarium idea here and expanded from her tutorial. This tutorial includes a pdf file of the pattern pieces - sweet! I made my aquarium to have a felt pocket, so C could carry his sea creatures right in the board.

What crafts have you made out of felt? Give it a try, it is super easy and cheap!

Have a great Friday night!

Toddler Time...Water Table and More!

Need some ideas to keep your toddler occupied during the long winter months? I do! Here's a few things we've been doing to keep busy.

Water Table

Colin (age 16 1/2 months) loves the bath, so I thought, hey, let's play in the water without getting too wet! My friend, Courtney, had made an impromptu Water Table a few years ago, giving me the idea. She made hers outside during the summer months, but I adapted it for now.


What do you need?

• a shallow plastic bin
• bath toys, measuring cups, spoons, anything for fun in the water!
  
• a toddler sized table
• towels (lots!)
• a raincoat (I learned the hard way, Colin got soaked through the first time we tried it!)
• water (obviously!)

It was a success! He loved it. Of course, he has a short attention span, so he kept running away with the spoon and the measuring cup, but he had fun! I tried it a few days ago with the three year old I babysit and he was entertained for quite some time. We even had the opportunity to add in a little science lesson - why do things float? will the ball float? will the block float? It was great!

Inside Slide

Too cold to go to the park? Slide inside! I bought this used plastic slide off of Craig's List last fall for $10. Colin wasn't really interested in it until about 2 months ago, at 14 months, but now he loves it! Seems pretty straight forward and it's great for his motor skills development.

In the Kitchen

This tip is for older toddlers - aged three and up. As I said, I babysit two other little boys. One day, when Colin was taking his nap, C and I made a pizza and some cookies! These were tasks I already had on my to-do list for the day, but we did them together. It was a fun activity for C and a great way to teach him about measuring, cooking, baking and just spending time together. He helped roll out the dough (fine motor skills), poured flour, etc in the mixing bowl (coordination), as well as stirred the flour mixture (fine and gross motor skills). Here's a picture of the pizza we made together!

Go outside!

I know it is cold, but little kids need to go outside and run around! Hundreds of years ago, children spent most of their day outside; exploring, helping with chores, playing, and walking to and from school. Now, not so much. A book I've been reading, The Happiest Toddler on the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D., states that toddlers need to be able to go outside and run around at least 2-3 times per day! Wow, that's a lot! So, I've been trying to get outside more with Colin and the other boys. A perfect time to go play - right when we get home from school pick -up! The winter clothes are already on (which is half the battle most times!) and a quick play time in the yard is super fun and very rewarding! Try it next time you come home from grocery shopping or another errand. Your kids will thank you and the outdoor air will do you some good, too!



What do you do to keep your kids active during the winter months? Let me know!

Pasta Sauce...Easy as 1-2-3!

Last week, I told you how I make my own tomato sauce and freeze it. Click here to re-read the post. Here's how to make a simple and nutritious dinner in a few minutes!
Meghan's Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/2 carrot, grated
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1/2 t dried parsley
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried oregano
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1-2 T tomato paste (if you like thicker sauce, if not, omit)
1/2-1 t salt
1 t sugar

Easy as 1-2-3!

1. Heat a medium saucepan on medium. Add in olive oil. Dice up onion and add to the pan.
2. Sautee for a few minutes, then add in pressed garlic, grated carrots, and the three Italian spices. Cook for a few more minutes.
3. Add the can of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste (optional), salt and sugar. Lower the heat to low, stir, cover and cook for about 30 minutes. Make sure you stir the sauce a few times.
   

To Freeze and Reheat

Sometimes, I like to make a double batch of tomato sauce. If so, I take half the cooled sauce and place it in a quart sized freezer bag. Then, when I am ready to use it, I place the bag into a bowl of hot water and let it defrost. Once it is defrosted enough to remove, I pour it into a saucepan and reheat. Easy!

Cheaper and Healthier

Depending on what brand of sauce your family enjoys, making it yourself can be much more cost effective. Other than the can of tomato sauce, you probably have all the other ingredients on hand weekly. It took me a few years of fiddling with the recipe to get it right (and for my husband to like it!), but now I make this whenever we eat pasta. A few famous TV Chefs inspired me along the way - Mario Batali and Buddy Valastro (did you watch Kitchen Boss? I loved it!).

It is also a healthier option than store-bought sauce. Many jars of pasta sauce have added ingredients that aren't good for you, like preservatives and extra salt, to name a few.

Happy Cooking! I hope this works out for you.

Purse Tutorial Review and More!

A New Bag!

I really needed a bag that I could wear across my chest and have my hands free. Since I make my own handbags to sell, I figured I could make one for myself for once! Here it is:

I LOVE it! And, I wanted to share with YOU how to make it yourself. CREATE, INSPIRE, SHARE!

I found the tutorial on Pinterest a few weeks back. I've been using Pinterest for awhile now, but mostly to "pin" images that I see online that I like. My friend inspired me to check out other people's "pins" and search for stuff via the site. Totally cool! If you are not familiar with Pinterest or learn more (like, did you know you can mention someone in your comment on the pin with the @name thing and they will get an email of your pin?) check out this blog post.

Review of Dixie Mango's Tutorial
This bag was enjoyable to make and didn't take long. I broke it up over a few days (during naptime!). The actual pattern piece that you have to make looks confusing, but once you sit down to do it, it is quite easy. I would have posted on the tutorial about how much fabric you need before you make the pattern piece (it was about 3/4 yd for each fabric and lining).
I liked that the bag has some great components:

• over the shoulder
• zippered inner pocket
• key catcher
• large enough for what you need to carry around!
• super cute

Dixie Mango included a tutorial on how to insert a zippered pocket in the bag. I had come across this tutorial a few years ago, but wasn't brave enough to try it. It was worth it and didn't take me long. It ended up looking like this:

Zippered Inner Pocket!

I made the shoulder strap a bit longer, since I am tall. I also added another inside pocket and divided into into two compartments.

One pocket is large enough for a phone, the other for lip gloss!

If you have time this week, check out this great tutorial. Or let me know your favorite bag tutorial!

Superbowl Review

Did you have a great time watching the Superbowl? We did! Our fried food went off without a hitch and everyone loved the results! Most of the food was eaten so fast that I couldn't take pictures. Some of the crowd favorites were: my mozzarella sticks (recipe here), Chris' crab rangoons, and the fried oreos (wow!).

Mozzarella Sticks ready to go!

Our buddy Chris helping us fry

Fried Oreos...a favorite! Made with yummy cinnamon-sugar batter.

Here we are! Garbed in Giants apparel - Go Giants!

It was a great night. Special thanks to my Dad for giving me his Food Network Magazine with the Frying Guide!

Superbowl Sunday Snacks!

The big game is almost here. My husband just informed me that there are 28 1/2 hours until kickoff! Someone's excited! And he should be...his team (my team, too) made it to the Superbowl. Go Giants!

So, what are you making to munch on while you watch the Giants and Patriots battle it out? Pizza? Subs? Chili? Fried food? Yup! We're hooking up the turkey fryer and making some super healthy snacks!

Here's our playlist:
Cheesy Spinach Dip and tortilla chips (slow cooker)
Bean and Corn Chili (slow cooker)
Fried Mozzarella Sticks with marinara sauce
French Fries (both sweet potato and regular potato)
Fried Pickles
and....Fried Mac and Cheese!

Some friends will be bring other food, including homemade crab rangoons to add to the oil! Yum!

In case you haven't decided on what to make, I'm including the recipe for my Cheesy Spinach Dip. Years ago, I made Martha Stewart Food Magazine's version of spinach dip and loved it. But, ever since I had a baby, it is much easier to make it my way! Let's say it evolved! If you don't have a slow cooker or would like to try Martha's recipe, click here.

Cheesy Slow Cooker Spinach Dip
Ingredients:
1/2 chopped onion
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 bag spinach, either frozen or fresh
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup milk
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 dash hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. Sautee the chopped onion in the olive oil for a few minutes. Add pressed garlic. Cook for a few minutes more.
2. Spray the slow cooker with oil. Add the sauteed onion and garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.
3. Cook on high 1 hour or low for 2 hours. You may need more or less cooking time.
4. Serve with tortilla chips or warm, crusty bread.
   

So...what are you having for your Superbowl snacks? We'll take some pictures of our frying!
Go Giants!

DIY Crib Rail Cover

My toddler loves to use his crib rail as a teething post. Around Christmastime, it got pretty bad and ended up looking like he'd sanded it down (well, that is kind of what he did!). I'm not showing you a picture of what it looked like, because, well, I'm embarrassed!

But! I did fix the problem. I took my crafty self downstairs to my sewing room and created this:


Do you want to learn how to make a super cute and inexpensive crib rail cover? Read on!
*Disclaimer: I did not plan to make this a tutorial, so there are no step by step pictures. I'll try to be better next time. Let me know if you have any questions! Read through the steps before you begin.

You will need:
Top fabric (see step one for amount)
Bottom fabric
Batting
Ribbon
Thread
Sewing machine
Pins

1. Measure the area you want to cover on your crib. I covered the width, making a smaller cover, you may choose to do the longer side. Let's say the length of the area is 26", for example.
2. Find fabric: I used scraps from Colin's baby quilt and pieced them together to get to my length of 26". You'll need about 12" in width of your fabric. So, if you are using a whole piece of cloth, cut a 26" x 12" rectangle.
   
3. Backing: This part won't show, so it doesn't have to be cute! Find a piece of fabric from your stash that is the same size as the top - 26" x 12".
4. Batting: Batting is the inner layer that use when quilting. I had a bunch of small pieces that I save from larger projects, just for purposes like this. If you don't have any, you can find various types of batting at your local fabric store or quilt shop. I used warm and natural batting. Cut a piece identical to the other two pieces of fabric.
5. Quilting: You may or may not choose to do this step. I think it looks nicer and adds more durability. Take the top of your crib rail cover and pin the batting to the wrong side. Choose a coordinating color thread for your machine and quilt the two pieces together. I used a fabric chalk and drew vertical lines about every 3 inches. Then, I top stitched (or quilted) the lines. Easy.
   
6. Layering: Place the top fabric piece (with batting attached) right side up on your table. Place the backing right side down on top of it (so the right sides are facing each other). Pin around the edges.
7. Using your sewing machine, sew around the fabric sandwich (1/4" sew allowance), leaving a 5" gap on one of the edges (preferably in the middle of the edge). Clip your corners and turn inside out. Press.
8. Topstitch around the entire cover , making sure to fold under the gap and stitch it closed in the process. I used a 1/8" allowance here.
   
9. Take your ribbon and place it on the top of your cover. I used four pieces and measured where the grooves were on my crib. You may not have grooves, so you can pick your placement. Make sure the ribbon is long enough to sew on the cover, plus extra length to use to tie it on the crib. I used two longer pieces of thick white ribbon for each end, and scraps of brown ribbon in the middle.
10. Pin the ribbon pieces right on the cover. Sew down each side, allowing for 1/8" seam allowance.
11. All done! Tie it on your babies crib and say goodbye to yucky crib rails!

You may need to personalize this for your crib. Each crib is made differently, so read through the steps, then evaluate your crib rail to see what you need to do. Have fun!

Green Tomatillo Chicken Update!
Remember - Honey, What's for Dinner? I told you I would let you know how it turned out. It was great. Doug said, "Add it to the rotation!". Colin wasn't too fond of it. I'm thinking maybe the green salsa had a different flavor he wasn't used to. We'll try it again, though.